SACRAMENTO
Advancing women in business
Yes, California’s controversial law requiring women on the board of each publicly traded company headquartered in the Golden State is facing legal challenges — closing arguments in a civil trial wrapped Wednesday — but in some ways its legality may be beside the point, CalMatters’ Grace Gedye reports. Here’s why:
- Although the law has been in effect for more than two years, California hasn’t been fining noncompliant companies — and has no plans to begin doing so.
- Nevertheless, the share of California boardroom seats held by women climbed from 15.5% to 29% over the same period.
- And once something starts gaining momentum, it’s hard to stop: “I don’t think” the push to diversify corporate boards “is going to be reversed if the law is stripped down,” UC Davis law professor Katherine Florey told Grace.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Monique Limón, a Santa Barbara Democrat, introduced a bill Thursday that would force California companies with more than 100 workers to publicly report pay data — broken down by job, race, sex, ethnicity and other factors — for their employees and workers hired through third-party staffing agencies, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The bill would also require those companies to:
- Include a pay range for posted employee and contractor jobs.
- Make job promotion opportunities available and known to current workers.
- Limón: “Pay transparency is one of multiple tools that can be used to close the gender or racial wage gap.”
—Emily Hoeven, CALMatters
SACRAMENTO
2021 Wildfires debris removal update: All 78 properties in Lake County and all 19 properties in Mendocino County participating in state’s debris removal program cleared of wildfire debris
State contractors have cleared the remains — burned metal, concrete, ash and contaminated soil — from all 78 homes and property in Lake County and all 19 properties in Mendocino County whose owners enrolled in the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program after last year’s Cache and Hopkins fires, respectively.
In total, State-managed crews removed 5,024 tons of debris from Mendocino County and 9,308 tons of debris from Lake County. Metal and concrete is diverted for recycling, while ash, debris, and contaminated soil is disposed of at lined landfills approved by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Under the program, administered by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), in collaboration with county officials, participating property owners incur no direct costs.
Property owners opted into the program by submitting a Right-of-Entry form (ROE) to their county, which allows the state to begin work on their property and incur no direct costs for the removal of burned metal, concrete, ash and contaminated soil from their properties.
Statewide, crews have removed debris from 1,138, or 66.4 percent, of the 1,715 parcels enrolled in the full program. An additional 377 properties are participating the hazardous trees only element of the program.
State and Federal officials are reviewing additional commercial parcels that may be subsequently approved for debris removal.
Property owners cannot start rebuilding until fire debris is removed from their properties and soil samples taken from the property meet state environmental health and safety standards.
Property owners also can do the work themselves through a licensed, private contractor, but the work must meet the same state standards as the State Program. If work is started by the property owner or contractor, they become ineligible for the State Program.
State debris removal officials remind property owners that only fire-generated debris such as burned metal, concrete, ash and contaminated soil is eligible for cleanup. Unburned refrigerators or other appliances and any debris not generated by the wildfires are ineligible.
Debris officials also stress that participating owners must avoid disturbing the footprint of the destroyed structure and should not remove any debris themselves, other than small valuables. Property owners recovering valuables should wear personal protective equipment and take appropriate precautions. Any debris removal work done by property owners will result in their disqualification from the program.
Steps left to complete
Before homeowners can begin rebuilding, cleared properties need additional work including:
- Separate contractors collect soil samples for verification at a laboratory that they meet state environmental health and safety standards.
- Contractors next may install erosion control measures.
- Certified arborists or professional foresters assess wildfire-damaged trees in danger of falling on the public or public infrastructure for removal by separate contractors.
- Finally, state officials inspect the property to verify all completed work meets state standards. Debris officials submit a final inspection report to local officials to approve the property for reconstruction.
To date, 15 properties in Lake County have completed the entire debris removal process and been returned to county officials to begin the permitting process.
Property owners can track progress on the Debris Operations Dashboard for the 2021 statewide wildfires. The dashboard is updated every hour and provides users with the ability to search by county or address.
—Submitted
